Next, address the bar with a split stance with the feet spaced about a foot apart, choosing whichever grip you like best. Set the bar up in a power rack at a point where you can bend over and still keep a flat back, which for most people will be somewhere between mid-shin and knee level. To make barbell rows more lower back friendly, try split stance rack rows with the trap bar. Plus, you hardly ever see them done well and the “row” usually deteriorates into something that resembles more of a shrug/upright row/monkey humping a football combination.ĭead stop rows (otherwise known as Pendlay rows) are better because the pause helps to keep the set under control and minimize cheating, but most people can’t lower the bar all the way down to the floor without rounding their lower back, which again makes it a risky choice in my book. I’m not a big fan of traditional barbell rows because I feel they put undue stress on the lower back, and the sizeable risk just doesn’t outweigh the reward when there are so many other options to choose from. Here’s Patrick Chung of the Philadelphia Eagles doing sliding reverse lunges: Unfortunately, most regular trap bars aren’t big enough front-to-back to do split squat and lunge variations, so you really need a bigger trap bar for these exercises. Plus, it’s much easier to hold a trap bar than heavy dumbbells, making it feel a lot smoother. And even if you did, it’d be extremely awkward and cumbersome to hold dumbbells that big.įor guys about 6’1" and under, the trap bar functions much like heavy dumbbells so you can load the weight at your sides, and there’s essentially unlimited loading capacity. The trouble is, once you get good at single-leg work, it’s not uncommon for guys to go up over 250 pounds, but it’s extremely rare that you’ll find a gym with big enough dumbbells. I prefer dumbbell loading to axial barbell loading (i.e., the back squat or front squat position) for single leg work because I think it’s safer for the back and gives you a better “bail out” option if something goes awry and you lose your balance. If your trap bar isn’t long enough to fit in a rack, pull from blocks. Scrape-the-Rack Pulls (Upper Back Emphasis) A 10-15 repper at the end of your leg workout will have your quads giving you the finger. ![]() This movement really doesn’t lend itself well to lower rep ranges, so keep it in the 6-10 range and above. Keep the reps controlled, both on the concentric and the eccentric. ![]() You won’t need a lot of weight to really feel these, so don’t let your ego get in the way. This small tweak places more stress on the quads without imposing any additional stress on the knees, while also taking a lot of stress off the lower back – quite the orthopedic trifecta. At the top, rather than standing straight up, you should be leaning forward slightly. As you pull, the goal is to keep the bar pressed firmly against the rack the whole time, which will require you to lean forward slightly as you come up. ![]() Set up just as you normally would for a deadlift, but with the bar pushed up against the front of the rack. This one is both brutally effective and joint-friendly at the same time – a welcome combination. I’m really fired up about this one because as someone with both lower back and knee issues, it can be tricky to find good exercises to target the quads without kicking the crap out of my joints.
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